Eagles injury update: Jalen Hurts returns to practice ahead of playoffs

Eagles injury update: Jalen Hurts returns to practice ahead of playoffs originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The news you’ve all been waiting for: Jalen Hurts returned to practice on Wednesday.

“He’ll be there today,” Sirianni said Wednesday afternoon. “We will give you the injury report after training. We’ll see how it goes. But we will give you the injury report after today’s training.

A few hours later, Hurts took the field at Linc. Hurts was officially a limited participant.

It was Hurts’ first time back on the practice field since suffering a concussion on Dec. 22. Hurts missed two full weeks of practice and two games due to his concussion. Sirianni did not say if there would be any restrictions on Hurts to start the week.

Here is the full injury report from today’s practice:

I haven’t practiced: G Trevor Keegan (illness)

Limit: WR AJ Brown (knee/rest), QB Jalen Hurts (concussion/left finger), QB Kenny Pickett (ribs), RB Will Shipley (ankle)

Complete: TE Grant Calcaterra (shoulder), LB Nakobe Dean (abdomen), TE Dallas Goedert (knee), DE Bryce Huff (wrist), DT Byron Young (hamstring)

The Eagles practiced Wednesday afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field because the fields at the NovaCare Complex are frozen. They will host the Packers at Linc on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. in the wild card round.

The Eagles were without Hurts for the final two games of the regular season after he suffered a concussion against the Commanders on December 22. Hurts was forced to leave the game after just 12 snaps and has been in the concussion protocol ever since.

Despite Hurts’ disappearance in recent weeks, Sirianni said he’s not worried about rust.

“This is why you practice,” Sirianni said. “That’s why you went through the practice process and everything you do in practice to be on the same page and do everything there. We feel like we’re practicing at a very high level of intensity. That’s why you go out there and do these things.

While Hurts’ return to practice doesn’t necessarily mean he will complete the concussion protocol in time for Sunday’s game, all indications are that Hurts will make his return for the playoffs. The Eagles even waived backup quarterback Ian Book on Tuesday, which was another strong sign of Hurts’ availability.

The game before suffering his concussion, Hurts had one of his best games of the season. Against the Steelers, he completed 78% of his passes for 290 yards and 2 touchdowns. This performance came after a close win against the Carolina Panthers that raised many questions about the passing offense.

In 15 starts this year, Hurts is 12-3, but he was knocked out in Washington’s first-quarter loss. He completed 68.7% of his passes for 2,903 yards with 18 touchdowns and 5 interceptions in the regular season. He also totaled 630 yards and 14 touchdowns.

In the first 4 games of the season, Hurts turned the ball over 7 times, but in the last 11 games he only had 3.

With Hurts returning to practice Wednesday, it seems likely the Eagles will have all 22 offensive and defensive starters healthy for the first round of the playoffs.